Page 32 - Annual Review 2008

32 / REwARdS
Picasso’s Guernica 1937 (in Basque Gernika)
depicts the massacre of Basque civilians by the
Spanish military in the early twentieth century, and
is considered one of the most powerful political
art works of that century. In this major installation,
New York-based Taiwanese artist Lee Mingwei
recreated Picasso’s famous work in sand. The work
was later transformed by the artist in an eight-hour
performance.
During his visit, Mingwei also took part in a special
blessing ceremony as part of his Bodhi Tree
Project at the Queensland Cultural Centre. The
Bodhi Tree Project is a public art initiative linked
to the Queensland Government’s Cultural Centre
redevelopment. A young Bodhi tree was planted
near the entrance to GoMA and blessed by monks
from the Chung Tian Temple, Brisbane.
GERNiKA
IN SAND
3 May – 6 July 2008, GoMA
Performance by Lee Mingwei as part of the ‘Gernika in Sand’ exhibition, June 2008.
Photograph: Ray Fulton
Background: The Venerable Ru Hao, the Venerable Chueh Shan (Abbess of the Chung Tian
Temple) and the Venerable Chueh Chuan perform a blessing ceremony as part of the Bodhi
Tree Project. Photograph: Natasha Harth
Bodhi Tree
Project blessing01/05/08